When I realized I was going to have to teach the Cold War conflicts I realized right away that my students would either think it was boring or wouldn't understand how the events related. I remembered thinking both the US and the USSR were just overreacting and making stupid decisions, but hindsight is 20/20. For my simulation, I used fake country names and divided my students into the US and the USSR. I told them that the object of the game was to be the country with the most land and the most control. It was a fantastic success. The students acted the same way both countries did during the Cold War. It really helped them to understand the reasoning behind the decisions that were made and why these different conflicts were so important to the future of the world.

I've decided to make it available to anyone who would like it. The files below contain the procedures, the discussion questions, and the map I used. I created the map using a fantasy world generator and Notebook.

NOTE: the procedure looks like this is long and arduous, but actuality it took about 45 minutes.

let me know what you think! If it worked for you, if it didn't or any changes you made to fit your specific needs. :)